Building A Grading and Reporting System Written Report PDF

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College of Education 2nd Semester ProfEdWRITTEN REPORTGRADING AND REPORTING SYSTEMAssessment of Learning Outcomes in the K to 12 ProgramThe assessment process is holistic, with emphasis on the formative or developmental purpose of quality assurance in student learning. It is also standards-based as ...

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College of Education 2nd Semester ProfEd11 WRITTEN REPORT

GRADING AND REPORTING SYSTEM

Assessment of Learning Outcomes in the K to 12 Program The assessment process is holistic, with emphasis on the formative or developmental purpose of quality assurance in student learning. It is also standards-based as it seeks to ensure that teachers will teach according to the standards and students will aim to meet or even exceed the standards. The students’ attainment of standards in terms of content and performance is, therefore, a critical evidence of learning. The assessment shall be done at four levels which are an adaptation of the cognitive levels for learning. Weights are assigned to the levels.

Level of Assessment Percentage Weight Knowledge - 15% Process or skills - 25% Understanding(s) - 30% Product/Performances - 30% TOTAL -100%

The levels are defined as follows: Knowledge - refers to the substantive content of the curriculum, the facts and information that the student acquires. Process - refers to cognitive operations that the student performs on facts and information for the purpose of constructing meanings and understandings. This level is assessed through activities or tests of analytical ability.

Understandings - refer to enduring big ideas, principles and generalizations inherent to the discipline, which may be assessed using the facets of understanding. Assessment at this level, should require ability to synthesize, generalize and judge accordingly. Products/Performances - refer to real-life application of understanding as evidenced by the student’s performance of authentic tasks. At this level students are expected to be able to apply what has been learned in contrived or real situations.

Levels of Proficiency At the end of the quarter, the performance of students shall be described in the report card, based on the following levels of proficiency:

Beginning — the students at this level struggles with his/her understanding; prerequisite and fundamental knowledge and/ or skills have not been acquired or developed adequately to aid understanding Developing — the student at this level possesses the minimum knowledge and skills and core understandings, but needs help throughout the performance of authentic tasks. Approaching Proficiency — the student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge and skills and core understandings and, with little guidance from the teacher and/or with some assistance from peers, can transfer these understandings through authentic performance tasks. Proficient — the student at this level has developed the fundamental knowledge and skills and core understandings, and can transfer them independently through authentic performance tasks. Advanced — the student at this level exceeds the core requirements in terms of knowledge, skills and understandings, and can transfer them automatically and flexibly through authentic performance tasks.

THE EFFECTS OF GRADING ON STUDENTS The effects of grading systems on students has both upsides and downsides. In some cases, they are unavoidable, and in others, it may be better to learn without incorporating grades into the picture.

The History of Grades Back around the 1940s, the grading system was invented. The main reason that grades were invented was to make it easy for institutions to communicate with one another about a student’s academic readiness. When there wasn’t a standard letter grading system, most teachers relied on a 100-point scale system.

Traditional Grading Scale One of the most universally recognized and traditional grading scales is the A-F letter grading scale. It’s as follows: A= 90-100% B= 80-89% C= 70-79% D= 60-69% F= 0-59%

Pros of Grades Standardization and universally recognized: People will understand what an A, B, C, D, or F letter grade stands for. Easy to understand: The system is set up to be as simple as possible. Comparison: With the scale, teachers can see how a student is performing compared to the majority of the class.

Cons of Grades Subjective: Even though the letter grade is universally recognized and accepted, grades still have subjectivity involved. Limited: The grading system may not accurately reflect what a student is learning. Time-consuming: Many teachers have to spend an immense amount of

time to set up a grading rubric and scale that translates understanding into a comparable letter grade.

Why students value grades more than learning?

THE STAKES ARE HIGH - Every grade counts toward the student’s overall GPA, and GPAs matter for internships, college admissions, and job applications.

HOW MOM AND DAD FACTOR IN - Many parents, particularly in high-achieving, high-pressure schools, go directly to teachers to try to get their children’s grades raised, and one 2014 survey found that 80% of kids thought that their parents cared more about their achievement than their happiness or altruism.

SENSE OF SELF WORTH -Many students base their sense of self on academic achievement, often in the form of grades.

Negative Effects of Grades on Students Most student evaluations are composed of both evaluative feedback, which “judges student work,” and descriptive feedback, “which provides information about how a student can become more competent. Many studies have found that while students focus heavily on evaluative feedback, descriptive feedback is much more important for student learning.

NOT ALL FEEDBACK IS CREATED EQUAL Although there are many theories as to why grades produce such a negative effect on students, one of the most convincing ideas is feedback intervention theory, which describes how receiving feedback leads to changes in attention.

BUILDING A GRADING AND REPORTING SYSTEM

The Basis of Good Reporting is Good Evidence Whatever is preferred and required of the teacher when it comes to format, grading and reporting should provide high quality information to interested person by means of any schema they can understand and use. The basis of such high-quality information is critical evidence on student learning. Evaluation experts stress that if one is going to make important decisions about students that have broad implications, such as decisions involved in grading, the more that good evidence must be ready at hand (Airasian, 1994; Linn & Gronlund, 2000; Stiggins, 2001). In the absence of good evidence, even the most detailed and hi-tech grading and reporting system is useless. It simply cannot serve the basic communication functions for which it is intended.

There are three qualities that contribute to the goodness of evidence that are gathered on student learning. These three qualities are described in the following table: QUALITY

DESCRIPTION

EXAMPLE

Validity

Refers to the appropriateness & adequacy of interpretations made from that information (Linn & Gronlund, 2000)

If an assessment is to be used to describe students’ reading comprehension; evidence should actually reflect reading comprehension and not other irrelevant factors.

Reliability

Refers to the consistency of assessment results

Attain very similar scores when the same assessment procedures are used with the same students at two different times, results have a high degree of reliability.

Quality

The more sources of evidence on students’ learning, the better the information can be reported.

Any single source of evidence of student learning can be imperfect, it is essential that multiple sources of evidence in grading and reporting students is utilized.

Major Purposes of Grading and Reporting

The following are the major purposes of grading and reporting:    

To communicate the achievement status of students to parents and others To provide information that students can use for self-evaluation To select, identify or group students for certain educational paths or programs To provide evidence of students’ lack of effort or inappropriate responsibility

Below are possible sources of Grading and Reporting System                  

Major Exams or Composition Class observation Class quizzes Oral Presentations Reports or projects Homework completion Homework quality Students’ Portfolios Exhibits of students’ work Laboratory projects Students’ notebook or journal Class participation Work habits and neatness Effort Attendance Punctuality of assignments Class behavior or attitude Progress made

Grading and Reporting Methods

1. Letter Grades  The most common and best known of all grading methods  Mostly composed of five-level grading scale  Letter Grade Descriptors

Despite their apparent simplicity, the true meaning of letter grades is not always clear. What the teachers would like to communicate with particular letter grade and what parents interpret that grade to mean, often are not the same (Waltman & Frisbie, 1994). To

give more clarity to the meaning of letter grade, most schools include a key or legend on the reporting from in which each letter grade is paired with an explanatory word or phrase. Descriptors must be carefully chose, to avoid additional complications and misunderstanding.

Advantages:  

A brief description of students’ achievement and level of performance including students’ potentials can be provided to parents and other interested persons. Based on parents’ experience when they were still studying, it is easier for them to believe and understand what letter grade means.

Disadvantages:  



Requires abstraction of a great deal of information into a single symbol 9stiggins, 2001) Despite educators’ best effort, letter grades tend to be interpreted by parents in strictly norm-referenced terms. The cut-offs between grade categories are always arbitrary and difficult to justify. Lacks the richness of other more detailed reporting methods such as standardsbased grading, mastery grading, and narrative.

Different Interpretation of Letter Grades (McMillan, 2007)

GRADE

A

B

C

Criterion- Reference (Standards-based)  Outstanding or advanced  Complete knowledge of all content  Mastery of all targets  Exceeds standards  Very good or proficient  Complete knowledge of most content  Mastery of all targets  Meets most standards  Acceptable or basic command of only basic concept or skills  Mastery of some targets  Meets some standards

NormReferenced

Combined NormReferenced and Criterion Referenced

Based on Improvement

Outstanding: among the highest or best performance

Outstanding: very high level of performance

Outstanding: much improvement on most all targets

Very good: performs above at the class average

Very good: better than average performance

Very good: some improvement on most or all targets

Average: performs at class average

Average

Acceptable: some improvements on some targets

 Making progress of developing  Lacks knowledge of most content  Mastery of only few targets  Meets only few standards

D

 Unsatisfactory: lacks knowledge of contents;  No mastery of targets  Does not meet any standards

E

Poor: below the class average

Below average or weak: minimum performance for passing

Making progress: minimal progress on most targets

Unsatisfactory: for below average; among the worst in the class

Unsatisfactory: lacks sufficient knowledge to pass

Unsatisfactory: no improvements on any targets

2. Percentage Grades  Are the ultimate multi-category grading method  Can range from 0 to 100  Generally more popular among high school teachers than elementary teachers Advantages:  

Allows for maximum discriminators in evaluation of students’ achievement and performance Maximizes the variation among students, making it easier to choose students for honors or representative for special program

Disadvantages:    

Requires a great deal of abstraction Interpretation of meaning of a percentage grade extremely difficult The cut-offs are no less arbitrary but a lot more Because of a large number of grade categories, it is less reliable and more subjective.

3. Standards-Based Grading In an effort to bring greater clarity and specificity to the grading process, many schools initiated standards-based grading procedures and reporting forms. Guskey and Bailey (2001) identify four steps in developing standards-based grading. These steps are:   

Identify the major learning goals or standards that students will be expected to achieve at each grade level or in each course of study. Establish performance indicators for the learning goals. Determine graduated level of quality (benchmarks) for assessing each goal or standard.



Develop reporting tools that communicate teachers’ judgments of students’ learning progress and culminating achievement in relation to the learning goals and standards.

Advantages: 

 

When clear learning goals or standards are established, standards-based grading offers meaningful information about students’ achievement and performance to students, parents and to others If information is detailed, it can be useful for diagnostic and prescriptive purposes. Facilitates teaching and learning processes better than any other grading method.

Disadvantages:   

Takes a lot of effort. Often too complicated for parents to understand May not communicate the appropriateness of students’ progress.

4. Pass/Fail Grading Simplest alternative grading method available to educators reduces the number of grade categories to just two: Pass or Fail. In the late 1800s Pass/Fail grading was originally introduced in college-level courses in the college in order for students to give more importance to learning and less to grades they attained. By lessening the emphasis on grades, many educators believed that students would be encouraged to take more challenging subjects. Pass/Fail was popular in most universities and colleges in 1970s. These universities and colleges utilized this pass/fail grading to various programs.

Advantages:   



Simplifies the grading process for teachers and students. Use of a single minimal cut-off and only two grades categories improve the reliability of grade assignments. Pass/Fail grading has the potential to make learning environments more relaxed by focusing students’ attention on learning rather than on grade (Goldstein & Tilker, 1971). Pass/Fail grading is what students will face in many real-life situations.

Disadvantages:   

Students gain very little prescriptive information. Students spend less time studying if pass/fail grading is used than when a wider range of grading system is utilized. Students only study to attain minimum passing level and show less effort in striving for excellence.

The table below provides a summary of the different grading methods discussed: Method

Advantages 

Letter Grade

 Convenient  Concise  Familiar



 Percentage Grade

Standards-Based

Pass/Fail

 Easy to calculate, record, and combine  Familiar  Focus on high standards of all students  Pre-established performance levels  Simple  Consistent with mastery of learning



Disadvantages Broad, sometimes unclear indication of performance; Often includes a jumble of factors including effort and improvement Broad, sometimes unclear indication of performance, false sense of difference between close scores; High scores not necessarily signifies mastery

 May not reflect student learning in many areas;  Does not include effort or improvement  Little discrimination in performance  Less emphasis on high performance

Developing Effective Reporting System The most critical issue to be addressed in selecting the tools included in reporting system is what purpose or purposes it is to serve. Why we need to convey this information and what we need to accomplish.

To determine the purpose or purpose, three aspects of communication must be considered.

Critical Aspects in Determining Communication Purposes:   

What information or messages do we want to communicate? Who is the primary audience for that message? How would we like that information or message to be used?

Tools for Comprehensive Reporting Reporting systems most highly regarded by parents typically include a mix of traditional and more modern reporting tools.

Tools that might be included in comprehensive reporting system: 1. Report Cards 2. Notes: Attached to Report Cards 3. Standardized Assessment Report 4. Phone Calls to Parents 5. Weekly/Monthly Progress Report 6. School Open-Houses 7. Newsletter to Parents 8. Personal Letter to Parents 9. Evaluated Projects or Assignments 10. Portfolios or Exhibits of Students’ Work 11. Homework Assignments 12. Homework Hotlines 13. School Web Pages 14. Parent-Teacher Conferences 15. Student-Teacher Conferences 16. Student- Led Conference

a. Report Card

Report card is issued by the school to the student or the student's parents once to four times yearly. A typical report card uses a grading scale to determine the quality of a student's school work. "The purpose of report cards is to convey information from the school to parents about a student's educational progress." (Friedman, 1995)

b. Notes attached to Report Card Report card comments should be personalized for each student and provides meaningful feedback to help parents understand their child's progress. The most important concept to remember when writing report card comments is to frame each statement in encouraging and positive language.

c. School Open House The open house gives parents and students the chance to get acquainted with the teacher (or teachers), see the school building and classrooms, and perhaps get a quick overview of class expectations and the year's curriculum. These are often held at schools and universities to attract prospective students, familiarize them (and their parents) with the facilities, and allow new students to become familiar with facilities and meet others, or to open informal communication channels between school staff and the students and their parents.

d. Weekly/Monthly Progress Report It is like a document that explains in detail how far you've gone towards the completion of a project. It outlines the activities you've carried out, the tasks you've completed, and the milestones you've reached your project plan.

e. Homework Assignments The most common purpose of homework is to have students practice material already presented in class so as to reinforce learning and facilitate mastery of specific skills. Preparation assignments introduce the material that will be presented in future lessons. Generally, assignments are given to write an essay or paragraph related to the specific topic that can improve the writing skills of students at a sufficient level. An assignment gives a way to express their own thoughts and understanding in a creative manner.

f. Portfolios or Exhibits of Students’ Work Portfolio enables students to reflect their real performance, to show their weak and strong domain and to observe student's progress during the learning process, and encourages students to take responsibilities for their own learning. A portfolio is a collection of student wo...